


In Which Yonah Gets a New Assignment & Sophia Gets a Teacher

by AdventurousScientist (Tuiteyfruity)



Series: Mystic Woods [1]
Category: Enchanted Forest Chronicles - Patricia Wrede, Mystic Woods, Original Work
Genre: Fantasy, Fantasy Adventure, GT, Gen, Giant/Tiny, High Fantasy, See notes for unusual content warnings, fairytale, farcical, gianttiny
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-06
Updated: 2019-12-06
Packaged: 2021-02-26 05:01:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,693
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21688015
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tuiteyfruity/pseuds/AdventurousScientist
Summary: This is the official “first” story for Mystic Woods. THE START OF A BEAUTIFUL FRIENDSHIP (a very rocky start).The circumstances that bring The Princess Sophia and Yonah The (half)Giant Wizard together! It also flashes back to Yonah’s Trial! Find out why he ended up imprisoned in the forest. Oh yeah, he's sort of a prisoner in the forest? He's "employed" by King Ben as both a royal wizard and an evil giant/evil wizard.Inspired by The Enchanted Forest Chronicles, I bring you: The Mystic Woods. Imagine that there are lots of kingdoms like the Enchanted Forest, called Arcane Terrains! And each have Guardians/Monarchs/etc. And thus, we have The Mystic Woods.Very much inspired by the set up in Dealing with Dragons. Still got a "captive" princess, but instead of a dragon it's a giant (half-giant! also half-FireWitch)! And he's a wizard! He's kinda evil??
Series: Mystic Woods [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1563316
Comments: 2
Kudos: 8





	In Which Yonah Gets a New Assignment & Sophia Gets a Teacher

**Author's Note:**

> Content warnings: Lots of GT. Some vore-ish* moments & implications of safe/non-fatal vore. Tense mentions of almost fatal in the flashback but again no actual vore, fatal or even implied fatal happens. very dramatic ™. It ends in a very sweet moment anyways. Kinda cheesy moment in my opinion. Also a silly sarcastic joke about fatal at the end of the fic itself.  
> 
> 
> *if you are familiar with the Enchanted Forest Chronicles you may recall that the dragons ate people, and the giants in book two implied that they do too! While I favor vore where people survive, instances and mentions of people being eaten and not surviving occur! It is handled in the exact same manner as in the EFC. That is to say, casually, non-descriptive, and often in a humorous manner (like in book 1 when Roxim arrives late to the meeting because he encountered and ate a wizard).
> 
> Fairytales are chock full of vore anyawys, Tom Thumb gets eaten TWICE??

The loud knocking at Sophia’s door tore her from her melancholic daze. A bit of drool fell from her mouth as she blinked into existence again. She was sitting at her desk, a half-assed and half-hearted needle-point project sitting on it, untouched for hours. At first she thought she had dreamt the knock, but it came again. Strange. It wasn’t a meal time, there shouldn’t be anyone at her door.

“Is your Highness awake?” came the voice of her servant, Meyers, “His Majesty requests your presence.”

/Does he now?/ Even stranger. Her father never ended a grounding early; she still had a week of solitary left by her calendar. In fact she checked the chalk drawn calendar she had drawn on the far wall. Yep, still a week left. All the days past had big angry red exes through them. Picking up a piece of yellow chalk, she drew a “?” on the next empty day. She got up and walked to the door.

“Yes Meyers, I’m awake,” she said, “and decent.”

With a loud CLICK the door unlocked and opened, revealing Meyers who cringed at the sight before them.

“You’re… Highness,” Meyers couldn’t get the words out.

“What is it Meyers?” she demanded. They pointed behind her and to the left. She turned to face her full length mirror and groaned.

She looked like shit. That would be the only way to describe her state. Not having to interact face to face with another human for 2 weeks, she hadn’t cared to keep up appearances, and was not expecting to do so for another week. Her dark thick just barely curly hair was more like a piece of road kill glued to her head, her current dress was covered in food and paint stains, most recently a new wet spot of drool on her bosom.

Meyers prepared her a bath, and after she was clean, did her hair into a braid that reached her knees, and helped her into a nice clean gown. One that her father had gotten her for her last birthday. It was a light blue color with gold embroidery. Finally she was ready to face her father. At least, on the outside. She allowed herself to be lead out of the room.

“So, are you being paroled?” sneered Sophia’s oldest sister as they passed in the hall. “That would be a first. I would lock you in the tower forever if I were queen.”

“Eat shit Rosie,” Sophia spat, she wasn’t in the mood. So pissed was Sophia that she didn’t think to wonder what her older sister was doing here. It had been a few years, ever since she married her “true love” Prince Sol and had gone to live in his kingdom.

Rosie wrinkled her brow and nose, and folded her arms, “Well, you’re as pleasant as ever.”

“You’re one to talk,” came a man’s voice from down the hall.

It was Daniel, Sophia’s older brother. He was followed by Ilana, one of her other older sisters. With their straight black hair, pointed faces, matching eye color/shape, and impressive height, they could almost be twins, but they weren’t. Ilana was older. Daniel smiled warmly and kissed Sophia on her cheek, and Ilana hugged her.

“Wow look at us, all the elder siblings all in one place!” Daniel laughed genuinely, “How long has it been?”

“Don’t know, don’t care” Rosie sneered, tossing her warm brown locks over her shoulder.

While Daniel did seem to care, he was wise enough not to press the issue. So he turned his attention back to Sophia.

“Glad to see you back in society again,” he said, “but I was sure you had another week to go, is father getting soft in his old age?”

“If anything he’s gotten harder,” said Sophia, “It makes me worried for why he wants to see me.”

“Well you did blow up the stables trying to cast… whatever it was you were trying to cast,” said Daniel, but his eyes shone with amusement.

“You really need to stop all this magic nonsense Sophia,” said Ilana, her voice full to the brim with disappointment “you’re too old for childish fantasies. You’ll never get any offers of marriage if you carry on this way.”

“I’m also too old for you to tell me what to do,” countered Sophia kindly.

Ilana meant well, but she was a bit ditzy and old fashioned. And she had told Sophia the same thing every time she attempted magic, and every time it blew up in her face, which was most times. By now Ilana knew it was no use to try and convince Sophia to stop. Still, she never failed to tell Sophia off, even if she did it oh so politely. The threat of never being married was new, but not surprising, as Ilana had just been rescued by her own “true love” after she got “lost” in the Caves of Manic Rain. Ever since then her straight black hair had a shimmer to it.

Daniel was still a bachelor, prefering to court royals in a safer, less deadly quest-requiring way. But it was much slower. Still, he went to a lot of parties. Sophia thought he rather liked designing each new extravagant outfit that just had to have because it would be a scandal if he wore the same thing twice.

“Well I could care less what she does,” said Rosie, “the more she gets in trouble, the more likely she is to be disowned and that’s one less person who could inherit the sword.”

Daniel rolled his eyes, “That’s not how it works and you know it, there’s always a chance it picks some distant cousin we don’t even know about.”

“You’re highnesses, I really must get The Princess Sophia to His Majesty,” piped up Meyers, they had been standing silently next to Sophia the entire time. There was an urgency to their tone that silenced the royal children, allowing Sophia and Meyers to continue their journey.

Not for long, however, since they ran into Sophia’s two youngest siblings. Relatively. Sophia was nearly 20, the youngest sibling, Malushka, was 10. It was Malushka that ran up to her, bouncing up and down.

“Father let you out early!?” She asked, clasping her hands together dramatically.

“It seems that way Mally” Sophia replied, ruffling her hair which was in two big ponytails. Malushka looked up at Sophia with her unchild-like eyes that were imbedded in her round face, “I’m glad! It is wrong that Father locks you up just for wanting to learn magic!”

But he does. Thought Sophia. He’s The King. It doesn’t matter that it’s wrong. Sophia’s smile strained.

“Fathers prize stallion was kept in that stable, Sophia is lucky it wasn’t inside at the time,” said Yonatan, who was only a year older than Malushka, but couldn’t be more different. An 11 year old who was stoic wasn’t abnormal, but usually they had experienced some sort of trauma, rather than being a pampered prince. His already square face made him seem older, like he was a dwarf. A skinny dwarf. But he was just a 11 year old boy.

Or it would have been abnormal if a fairy hadn’t “blessed him” with intelligence and wisdom beyond his years. So for an 11 year old that meant the intelligence and wisdom of someone who was 15. Making him a bit of an asshole.

“I must go, father calls” she told them, and continued down the hall.

The door to her father’s office was open and he was at his desk, his crown set on his salt and pepper curls, reading glasses almost falling off of his nose as he read some important document. She sat herself down in one of the chairs. Normally princesses weren’t in his office. The chairs were stone and stiff to disarm people. He did not look at her. 

“You set the stable on fire on purpose.” he said, in a low but quiet voice. It wasn’t a question, he was stating a fact.

She said nothing.

“You said it was an accident, that you cast the spell wrong. But you didn’t.”

She still said nothing.

“We can’t keep doing this Sophia,” he said, looking up from his paper at last. 

For those not used to it, having to stare into the glaringly magical forest green eyes of the Mystic Woods King was always jarring. Surrounded by his warm brown skin it was as if he were a tree given human form. Because it was not his irises that were green (well, they were too, just a darker, green-ish brown). The “whites” of Ben’s eyes were filled with Woods magic. Sophia suspected that originally Ben had dark brown eyes, like she had. Before he became The King of the Mystic Woods. 

But Sophia had never known Ben without his green eyes, which low light had a faint glow, and in darkness shone like sunlight through leaves. So she had no problem maintaining eye-contact. 

“It was all fun and games when you were stealing books from the library. But Last time you joined a witch coven, and they were evil! You were lucky!”

Ok, that one she had to admit was a mistake. She had been so happy they didn’t care about her being royalty, that she hadn’t considered they were after her mystical royal blood.

“And before that… before that…” he was struggling to remember.

“You grounded me for applying to the Academy of Wizardry,” she supplied.

“I grounded you for Forging A Letter From Me to get in!” He didn’t raise his voice, much, but he did stress each word like a mallet on a gong. “Forging The King’s notary is high treason and a hanging offense!”

“But,” he said, letting out all of his breath.

Sophia perked up. Had he said ‘but’!? ‘But’ what!? Holy shit, had she won!? After all these years of sneaking around, being caught, and punished, rinse and repeat, had she won!? Maybe Daniel was right, maybe Ben was getting soft in his old age.

“But, I think it is time I admit that I cannot stop you from learning magic,”

No way, no way, nowaynoway! Sophia’s heart started racing.

“And I would rather you not attempt to teach yourself destructive and dangerous spells just to spite me,” he continued.

Stop beating around the bush!! Sophia was sitting up completely straight, her hands clasped in her lap, knuckles white. The force of her heart beat almost shook her from her seat.

“I have found you a tutor.”

She rocketed out of her seat and ran to hug her father, even though he didn’t deserve it. And then danced around the chamber. Before she ran out of energy and noticed her father still sitting their, stoic and frowny as ever. There was a catch. She stopped jumping and looked fearfully at her father. He looked past her. A guard entered the room, followed by another man. And the colored drained from Sophia’s face and out her feet.

“Ah, Mr. HaEsh, right on time,” he smiled horribly.

The largest man Sophia had ever seen entered Ben’s office. He was so big that his tall curly hat nearly brushed the top of the 3 meter doorway. If he had been any wider, he would have at to get creative with angling through the door. Standing up straight he towered over the princess and The King. He held his hands behind his back and hidden under his massive, bushy, but neatly tied, mane of jet black hair which ended in a neat point at the small of his back. By his wizard hat, and painfully garishly colorful wizard robes. This could only be a wizard. But where was his wizard staff?

The wizard Mr. HaEsh looked down his strong nose at Sophia with cloudy dark brown eyes. He had a very sharply shaven goatee and sideburns that might as well be squirrel pelts glued to his face. They looked just as dead as his eyes. Despite being on the chubbier side, and with burly arms, he looked almost gaunt. His eyelids drooped behind thick rectangular spectacles, and an aura of greyness hung around him. Was he ill? Or maybe older than he looked? He looked between 30 and 40.

He was followed by another guard. Adorned in silver plated armor with fractal engravings shaped looking like twisting plants, liquid emerald used for the filling, Sophia recognized them as Mystic Woodland Rangers, or mage guards, as they were commonly called. And they were high ranking too. What the fuck was going on.

When Mr HaEsh spoke, his voice was distant, and higher than Sophia had expected. It still rumbled and shook Sophia’s very bones. She saw her father tense too. Who was this man?

“You’re Majesty. has requested. my presence,” he said, his breath coming in short pathetic bursts “for all the trouble. this must be either dangerous. or interesting.”

/Trouble!? Danger?/ thought Sophia.

Her father coughed and adjusted his crown, “Hmf, yes. Mr HaEsh, I have a new assignment for you.”

The wizard raised his brows but said nothing.

“This,” Ben gestured to Sophia, “Is the Princess Sophia.”

“It is a pleasure. to meet you. your Highness,” Mr HaEsh greeted her. She extended her arm and while he bowed and kissed it gently, he did not remove his hands from his back. His lips were oddly cold. He straightened up and looked back down at his king.

“The princess desires to learn magic,” The King continued, “You are to be her tutor. She will be moving into your tower tonight.”

“WHAT?!” both Sophia and Mr. HaEsh exclaimed.

The air in the room changed in an instant. The greyness around Mr HaEsh was being strained by something, and the guards had tensed into combat-casting stances, magic circling their fingertips which were pointed at the wizard. 

King Benyamin remained calm, but an aura of power surrounded him too. One that scared and comforted Sophia. It was the magic of the Mystic Woods, and it always felt friendly, even if the situation was not. The King looked to the guards.

“Please take the princess outside, I have additional details to discuss with Mr HaEsh,” he ordered.

The guards eyes widened.

“But sir,” one spoke, voice cracking, “The subject is never to be without guard even-”

The magic flared up around The King, not in a threatening way, just to make his aura more powerful. “I gave an order, follow it.”

“Yes sir!” said the guard and they both flanked Sophia who stood up a little too fast.

“Father,” she said, curtseying and turning to leave.

The wizard bowed to her again before she exited. “Highness,” he said, sending shivers down her spine. She looked back and saw, before the wizard’s hair fell over them again, the massive rune-scribed iron cuffs on his wrists. Then the door was shut and she was standing alone in the hallway. With the two guards.

All three of them breathed enourmous breaths. Once, twice, three times, a fourth. A few minutes and they all had recovered, cold sweat ran down their faces.

“I thought we were ash for sure!” one of the guards whispered. The other nodded. They started going back and forth. Sophia only caught bits and pieces.

“Have you ever seen-?”

“-wasn’t a guard yet-”

“-for years! How do we know he didn’t -”

“-I think he has he’s a-”

“I cannot believe The King brought him into the castle! He isn’t safe-”

“-two of us on staff! We are not enough to handle him if he-”

“Locking himself in his office with that thing-”

“-supposed to LIVE with it, she’ll be-”

“Excuse me,” Sophia broke in. The guards stood at attention. “Who is that man?”

The guards exchanged glances.

“Does the princess not remember the trial from 6 years ago?” said a guard. It didn’t matter which.

“There are so many trials, I do not remember them all,” she said, “elaborate.”

“That thing, that man,” the guard’s voice shook, “is dangerous, he was put on trial as a dangerous entity who infiltrated The Kingdom and Wizard Academy! He should have been executed, but His Majesty showed mercy.”

The guard was being obtuse on purpose, she could tell. She crossed her arms and tapped her foot. She might be shorter than the guards by a good decimeter, but she was a princess! They answered to her father, and thus to her.

“Why is he dangerous?” Sophia demanded. The description was pulling at a memory but it was just beyond her reach.

But that was when the door opened once more and King Benyamin walked out, with the wizard behind him, looking even more grim. The wizard glared at Sophia, as if he was trying to convey hatred but for some reason couldn’t. Now that Sophia knew they were there, she looked at the Mage Cuffs. As the wizard stared at her, something like hunger flashed in his eyes, but was gone quickly. The runes on the cuffs glowed a with iridescence, he stifled a cough, and the dullness returned.

The Princess Sophia’s things had already been packed. The King had been planning this for a while it seemed, without her or Mr HaEsh knowing until now. All of Her belongings were handed to her in a single small case. And within an hour they were in a carriage heading out of the city.

The guards came too, one sat next to Mr. HaEsh, the other next to Sophia, but directly across from the wizard.

Mr HaEsh sat still, his head down, his eyes hidden by the brim of his hat. His hands still cuffed, his breathing regular but wispy.

In a desperate attempt to liven the atmosphere Sophia made one attempt to engage in conversation.

“Hey, wizard, I heard you’re a criminal,” She said, the wizard did not respond, “Well I’m a thorn in my father’s side. so who is being punished here, me or you?”

“Hruh” was all he said, the corners of his mouth twitching up, but there was a faint flash of light from behind him and the guards instantly had their magic up. The one next to the wizard put his hands near Mr. HaEsh’s face. And the wizard sneered at them.

“Careful,” he said, grinning, his mouth stretched to an unsettling degree, “I’m sure you’ve. heard the stories. And you don’t want. to have to get your fingers. regenerated. I’ve heard it’s painful,” and he snapped his teeth at the mage-guard’s hand. The guard flinched away, and the wizard laughed a hollow laugh.

Sophia made no more attempts to converse with this obviously insane criminal wizard. An insane criminal wizard that she was being sent to live with. What on earth was her father thinking! Had he just threaten to bite a man’s fingers off??? This man would kill her in her sleep! Fuck fuck fuck!

She looked out the window to distract herself and saw that they were heading towards the Mystic Woods. Great. Just great. A dangerous criminal who lived in a even more dangerous forest. Her father was definitely trying to kill her.

The carriage, which had to have some enchantment on it, smoothly left the path and was steered into the woods. It must also have a Direct Spell, asking the forest for a path to their destination that would not move around, since it was only a hour before the carriage stopped. Sophia looked out.

They were in a large clearing that contained a rundown looking tower at one end. It was surrounded by a fantastically well kept magical garden. A river ran along one side of the clearing, and a section had been blocked off to form a pool near the tower. The Sun was just starting to set behind the tower, splitting the light across the greens of the forest and glimmering off the river and colors of the garden. It would have been beautiful if not for the circumstances.

The guard next to the wizard shook as he took out a key and the wizard turned to present his cuffed wrists to the guard. Placing the key in the lock, the guard whispered a few words and the runes faded, the key turned clockwise, and the cuffs came off.

A fog lifted from around the wizard. His dull black hair became warm and vibrant, his cheeks less sunken, his arms seemed to swell with renewed strength. No longer did he look almost 40, but merely his late 20s. His clothes became more saturated, his hat stood up, and he looked at Sophia once more. His once hollow eyes filled with fire and she swore they glinted orange for a moment as he drew a long satisfying breath through a wide smile. When he exhaled the air around his mouth was distorted.

“I hate those fucking things,” he said, rubbing his wrists. His voice, once distant, slammed into Sophia. And into the guards, who were shaking more than ever. He looked at them and they cowered.

“Gentlemen” he said, with eerie politeness, “as always it’s been a huge displeasure,” and he got up, exiting the carriage. It shook as his mass disembarked.

The guard who had nearly had his fingers bitten handed Sophia the case with her belongings and coaxed her out the door. When she had both feet on the ground the door slammed behind her and the horses were whipped into speeding off. Leaving her with the wizard. She decided she would not show any more fear. He may be some sort of monster, but he was clearly in her father’s employ, he couldn’t hurt her, a princess he was apparently hired to teach. Could he?

She looked around for Mr HaEsh and spotted him by one of the fruit trees. It looked like standard apple tree, with golden-green apples. They were probably poison.

Mr HaEsh reached up and plucked an apple. These weren’t normal at all. They were so big that the apple fit perfectly in his hands! He sniffed it and bit into it. The sound of the crisp crunch crackled in the air. Sophia walked over to him as he finished the apple.

“They never fucking feed me when I’m summoned for just a day.” he said, tossing the core aside and picking another apple. Ok so they weren’t poisonous. “I get called upon in the morning and I’m shipped out! Don’t stop to think if i’ve even had breakfast yet! And then they don’t give me anything.” He took a third apple.

As he vented his eyes started to glow again, joined by the roots of his hair, making his head look like a dying coal fire. Smoke gently billowed from his locks. Was this some sort of intimidation tactic? Eating apples and pretending to be made of fire?

After eating a total of five apples, but picking at least ten more and storing them in his hat, he finally said “ready to head inside?”

Actually she kinda wanted an apple, but he had taken extras. Surely he would give her one. So she followed him to the base of the tower, right below the window which was about fifteen (15) meters up.

“How-”

“The vines” he said, indicating the prolific and thick vines that grew up the tower. The vines with massive thorns.

“You go first,” said Sophia.

The wizard shook his head, “I need to be behind you in case you fall, the thorns aren’t real.”

Cautiously Sophia reached out and brushed a hand against the side of a thorn. It passed right through. The vine was real, the thorn was not. Clever.

She was grateful that Mr HaEsh took her bag, as she needed both hands to climb up. And up and up and up! It seemed as if she should have reached the top by now? Her hands were red and raw, she might not be able to hold her grip for much long and Oh. She had reached the window!

Looking in she saw inside a single room, much bigger than it should be. Magic she reminded herself. This was a wizard’s tower after all! She heaved herself up and let her legs dangle into the room. Shelves with books and bottles and jars and thingabobs lined the walls, papers littered the floor, and there were three desks. One with a pile of books and writing materials, one with a small cauldron and utensils, and one that was piled with just junk. How could her dream have come true in such a nightmare-ish way? She looked down, it was probably a little over a meter drop to the floor and she hopped inside.

The moment she crossed the threshold the distance from the windowsill to the floor became over 4 meters feet and she fell onto the floor with a thunk. The chamber was even larger than before, everything was 3 to 4 times as large as it had first appeared. But she wasn’t concerned with that, her legs were rattling from the impact and she was nursing her sore bones and muscles.

*thup* And Yonah landed beside her, but with a lot more practiced grace. He dropped her case next to her, walking over to the giant desk.

“Hey why the fuuuuu-“ but she didn’t get to say “ck didn’t you warn me”

Yonah grumbled and from his sleeves drew out a beautiful staff. It was a dark red wood with gold engravings swirling up to a dark pink crystal ball at the end. He tapped the floor with his staff twice, the crystal ball flashed briefly and with a mighty POOF Yonah was over 20ft tall, perfectly proportioned to the rest of the room. He walked to his desk, opened a book, set up a magnifying glass, got out a piece of paper, and started writing.

And Sophia remembered. How could she have forgotten?

—

The twelve year old Sophia groaned quietly. She, Ilana, and her sibling sister Sasha had just finished their embroidery lesson and were doing their homework from yesterday’s poise and posture class. Sophia watched Ilana walk across a one inch wide plank of wood with a glass of water balanced on her head. She tensed and untensed her eyes to focus and unfocus them.

“I’m BORED!” she groaned loudly, and Ilana yipped. She did not fall but the glass did topple over and smash on the floor.

“Look what you made me do!” said Ilana as a servant ran to clean up the mess. She approached Sophia and held out her hand.

Sophia looked at her own glass of water and held it up. Then brought it to her mouth and drank it.

“hey!”

“Let’s go watch today’s trial!” said Sophia, and Sasha who had been dozing off perked up.

“We’re supposed to be practicing our poise,” Ilana said.

“I didn’t invite you,” Sophia took Sasha’s arm as they left the room, the servants didn’t stop the. Ilana ran after them. Sophia gave her a hard look.

“I’m the oldest! I can’t let you go without me,” she said.

There wasn’t anything Sophia could do, so the three of them made their way to the throne room. They stopped off at the kitchen for snacks, and found their youngest sibling, Malushka, stealing cookies. Malushka demanded she be allowed to come too and bribed them with cookies so they couldn’t say no.

When they got to the room the guards wouldn’t let them in. And they wouldn’t explain why, just that their father had a list of those allowed entry, and they weren’t on the list. Sophia didn’t push the issue; she knew another way in. Up the stairs, to the balcony. It was empty, they would be able to watch the proceedings without being discovered. And the proceedings were just about to start.

The throne room wasn’t packed, but there was a lot of activity. The King, of course, sat on his throne, and along the walls stood the most colorful population Sophia had seen. There were the usual Law Masters and their Grand Law Master Diana Gluck, there was Sir Mordecai The Voice of the Court, all wore dull reds, blues, blacks, and browns. Other members of the court stood around, talking excitedly, they had more color and variation to their garb but it was nothing compared to the wizards. There were at least 20 wizards. All in different colors in the most garish combinations and horribly designed robes. The floor looked like cheapest Jackson Pollock.

The Voice walked over to The King and whispered in his ear and he called the room to quiet. The doors opened and the subject of today’s trial was brought in.

A long procession of Mage Guards marched into the room, but their footsteps were drown out by the clanks and thuds of the shackled giant they had in tow.

With a face full of black hair, and a messy head full to go with it, the giant looked wild. The patchwork clothes looked like they were made of the entire stock of prison uniforms. Sophia imagined that the giant must have eaten the prisoners to get their clothes. The giant’s eyes were bloodshot, lack of sleep or crying? His breaths came in short shudders, in fact the man was shivering. His cheeks were sunken, and his skin grey-ish. But it was the cuffs that really put the look together.

Thicker than Sophia was and made a dark silver metal engraved with shining black runes. his hands were linked at the wrist and his ankles were chained together. With the same runic metal. Every so often the giant’s eyes would flash with a hint of fire, and the runes would glow with oily iridescence and the giant would cough and shiver harder.

The giant was forced onto his knees, looking over the circle of guards at The King. Even though it was The Voice of the Court that spoke.

“The accused, Yonah HaEsh, of an Undefined Class of Magical Being. He has been designated as Monstrous Being - Magical Humanoid - Hybrid Human With Fire Elemental Heritage,” rattled off The Voice. “He is charged with trespassing in His Majesty Benyamin’s Kingdom, classified as Invasion due to his status as a Giant, and Infiltration due to the extent of hiding his nature and the length of time this persisted. Mr. HaEsh disguised himself as a human and forged documentation to enter his Majesty Benyamin’s Kingdom and attend the Illustrious Academy of Wizardry. Mr. HaEsh frequently entered areas of The Kingdom from which monsters, most particularly giants, are strictly forbidden.”

He looked right at the giant now, and his voice wavered for a second, “To verify for the record, your name is Yonah HaEsh?”

The giant took a painful breath before answering “yes”

“And your mother is Malaka HaEsh, a giant, your father Emmett HaEsh, a firewitch?”

“yes”

“Do you deny any of the charges as described?”

There was a long pause. Everyone held their breath.

“no”

The Voice took a deep breath “The Court Recommends a sentence of execution, the standard for repeated invasion offenses.”

Several of the wizards gasped. The giant hung his head. A few tears fell to the floor, splashing on the guards.

“The Court now opens the floor to those who would argue for or against the court’s recommendation”

A group of 6 wizards emerged from the crowd. From the matching formal robes, the smaller hats, and the less offensive, highly coordinated colors, they looked extremely professional. One of them, an older woman with white twists of hair and dark wrinkled skin stepped forward.

“State your name, any title, and intention for the Court,” said The Voice.

The woman adjusted her grip on her staff. It was polished dark grey with blue crystals imbedded in patterns and a silver cap in the shape of entwined snakes. At first her voice was too quiet to hear. She grumbled and a few of the crystal lit up. And her voice projected.

“Sean Werthan, 50 years Grand Master Wizard of the Academy of Wizardry.”

At her voice, the giant lifted his head and squinted in disbelief at the woman. But didn’t dare say or do anything else.

“Myself and the following self selected faculty and students are here to argue in defense of the accused and trusts that His Majesty, King Benyamin of Orr and The Mystic Woods, who generously allows the Academy to reside within his realm, will act with logic and mercy.”

The King leaned forward, The Voice spoke.

“Did you not expel the accused from your Academy, Grand Master?”

Hushed whispers flew around the room. The woman nodded.

“I do not deny the action I took against Mr. HaEsh,” her piercing eyes were aimed at Benyamin, “Nor will we attempt to deny the charges of forgery and falsification, and classification of his heritage,” she took her eyes off The King to look at Yonah who did not meet her gaze.

“However we argue against the charges of infiltration and invasion,” she said, “Which, given the circumstances and the conduct of the defendant, are unwarranted.”

It was at this point that Sophia stopped paying close attention and let her mind wander. It wandered over the wizards that wore more distinct colors and fashions. She gave them all names and backstories and secrets. Still, she caught the gist of the proceedings.

The giant was supposedly non-aggressive, for his entire time masquerading as human. An astonishing display of self-control seeing as Fire Witches are famous for their volatility. He intended no harm, and perpetrated none. Not at the school nor during any excursions into cities or towns. His only intent was to learn wizardry. His only crime was the law forbade his attendance, his only crime was being born non-human.

The younger wizards all contributed to support her arguments, citing personal experiences from the specific to broad. It all seemed pretty convincing to Sophia.

However, even if their claims were true, the Giant, as a now magically trained monster, was extremely dangerous. And he had broken the law, knowingly, deliberately, frequently. Every time he stepped foot in a city or town. Technically even the Academy was “off-limits” and illegal but they were more inclined to let magical beings roam around. They did not however, let them become students.

“We will now deliberate on the fate of the accused, Mr HaEsh,” said The Voice.

The King and the Law Masters left to a back chamber.

After a few minutes the tension had died down enough for people to start conversing and moving around the room. The wizards who had defended the giant attempted to talk to him, but were stopped by the guards.

“No one may approach the accused,” they said.

“But he’s our friend! He might die and we might never get to speak to him again!”

ohhhh a conflict! Sophia started to pay attention again. Perhaps the wizards would start a scene!

“Not my problem,” said the guards.

“No, but she is,” said a wizard, pointing at the giant. The guards turned around.

The blood in the guards ran cold but not as cold as Sophia’s as from her vantage point she saw Mally approaching the giant! How had she slipped past the guards?! When did she leave the balcony?!

/SHIT/

As the girl got closer to the face of the giant everyone went quiet. At a meter tall and that close to the giant’s mouth… Everyone was thinking it. Even with his hands and legs bound and magic suppressed, he could easily gobble up the princess. And he was facing death at the hands of The King.

-

Tired, cold, and starved, the scent of the girl hit Yonah as a wave of warmth and possibility. And hunger. He opened his eyes to a world blurred by tears and because his glasses had been taken away. That didn’t make sense to him. He blinked away the tears and squinted down. It was a princess, and she smelled really good. Really sweet. They had not fed him for days. A monster like him probably wouldn’t be given a last meal. And this was the daughter of The King who would give the order to end his life. 

And it would be so easy. She was so small. While he had never eaten a human before, and could barely fit one in his mouth, let alone swallow one whole like proper giants were known to do; he was certain to have no problem swallowing this child. 

No.

That thought was expunged as soon as it came. !! NO!! HOW COULD HE EVEN THINK SUCH A BARBARIC THING! But her smell persisted, drilled itself into his brain.

His stomach growled. He heard the gasps from the people around him and he drew himself away from the girl. He couldn’t actually move away but he sat up so that she wasn’t so hear his face. The guards all started to draw up magic, but they didn’t make any moves to save the princess.

“Hello big man!” the girl’s high voice pierced the silence. Still the guards did nothing.

/What they fuck were they even good for?/ thought Yonah. They should remove the child from the presence of a hungry giant, he had even backed off to give them room. /Assholes!/ Did they want him to eat her? Let an innocent girl die just to finally have a real reason to kill him. Or maybe they were too scared. /Cowards!/ These were the best Mage Guards in The Kingdom? They were shaking in their armor.

“H-hello,” he whispered.

“You look terrible!” she declared. He couldn’t disagree. His stomach rumbled again.

“You’re hungry!” she was right about that. This was just torture. Maybe he could… just hold her in his mouth. Maybe as a hostage? No no no. He wouldn’t be able to resist swallowing. 

The princess was rummaging through her pockets, “Want a cookie?” She produced a cookie, and smiled in a horrifyingly disarming fashion. 

Finally the guards started to try coaxing the girl away but it was useless. She was fixated on him. Her brilliant brown eyes wouldn’t leave his own dull ones. And he did want a cookie. He needed a cookie. Deserved a cookie. Cookie. He leaned forward and opened his mouth. No one made a sound. Yonah was holding his breath too, not wanting to scare her.

She reached out to place the cookie into his mouth but stopped. Had she realized the danger she was in? Her free hand went back into her pockets and produced another cookie.

“You need more than one!” she said, “because you are so big!” and she started placing cookies on his tongue, taking cookies from her pockets one at a time until they was a small cluster.

“All gone! No more cookies!” she turned her pockets inside out. Yonah allowed himself to smile as he sat back up, closing his mouth.

The cookies were small, but fresh, and made in a royal kitchen. They had been heavily spiced with ginger and were full of sweet almonds. He let them melt in his mouth but for the girl’s gratification he made small chewing motions and swallowed.

“Thank you.”

She yelped with joy and sped off.

-

The guards parted to let The King’s Youngest run into the arms of her father who had been standing, frozen at the scene before him. He had walked in just in time to see her start placing cookies on the giant’s tongue. He hugged her tight and picked her up.

“Daddy!” she yelled, “I gave the giant man cookies!”

“I saw that,” he said, his fake smile so practiced that his daughter had not yet learned to tell.

The King stood there, holding his daughter, looking at his prisoner. The guards had not reformed their circle. There was no one in between them. Malushka waved at the giant. He stared hungrily back. They really should have fed him.

And The King sighed. The wizards were right. For all the things they get wrong, for all the times they act without thinking. They were right this time. This monster, this man, didn’t deserve death. But his Law Masters couldn’t think of an alternative. There was no room for him in the dungeons and they had no prison large enough. Neither was it practical to use up so many mage guards for a 25/8 watch. And finally, there was no way they could keep him cuffed forever. The drain wasn’t just on magic; it was on life force. He had been cuffed for three days already, and he was sickly. He was truly amazed at the restrain the giant had shown, the mind still sharp and in control. If only he had someplace to keep him. Someplace he wouldn’t need guards, or cuffs. 

A tickle of forest magic reached into his mind.

“Mr. HaEsh,” he said, agreeing with the forest. 

The Voice straightened up, ready for the signal to give the sentence, but the signal didn’t come.

The giant’s eyes flicked to The King. Ben knew he made the right choice.

“I would like to offer you a job,” he said, smiling wickedly. The confusion in the room was palpable. The Law Masters were in crisis, The King had NOT discussed this with them. “And if you take it, you life will be spared.”

—

Ohthegods. Ohthegodsohthegods. Sophia looked up at the giant, who was larger than she remembered, even back then when she was smaller. Ohfuckohfuck. She should be scared but she wasn’t.

“Hey! HEY!” cried the princess. But the wizard ignored her, even as she ran up to his feet and kicked them, and pulled at his wizardly robes.

Finally she just climbed up to the desk, making use of the thick embroidered designs on Yonah’s robe. Even as she hung off of piece of clothing on Yonah’s chest, he didn’t acknowledge her. After she jumped onto the desk she collapsed, panting.

“If you’re going to live here you’re going to have to become a better climber” said Yonah, still not looking at her, and still writing. She walked over to stand under the magnifying glass. The wizard looked back at the book and laughed at the enlarged head of the princess, staring up at him with a weird combination of confusion, excitement, and fury.

“You! You! I-“ Sophia stammered. Yonah put the quill in its stand and looked down at the princess, trying not to laugh too hard.

“Yes? Princess?” He smiled wide, eyes sparkling with feigned interest and real annoyance. He hissed out the “cess” in princess, blowing a stream of hot air over Sophia, really hot air smelling like someone had fanned a campfire in her face. The glass fogged up.

“You’re Yonah HaEsh!” she said, “I was at your trial!”

“Were you now? I don’t remember you being there,” not that he liked to remember any of that day aside from… the princess and the cookies. Sophia was too old to be the cookie princess. 

“You almost ate my little sister!” there was no fear in her voice or her face. Maybe she was still processing.

Ah, now that made more sense. And he wasn’t going to deny the accusation.

“You’re the giant Evil Wizard!”

“Ughhhhgggg” Yonah pinched his nose, “I’m not. I’m not Evil. You’re father hired me as an ‘Evil Wizard™’ because the actually Evil Sorcerer who used to live here mysteriously disappeared, and he needed a replacement. It’s just a title. I’m also a Royal Wizard.”

Sophia snorted and folded her arms, “No other Royal Wizards live in Evil Wizard Towers… and”, as she remembered more, “They don’t have stories from adventurers that come running out of the forests yelling about the magic giant who tried to eat them.” She remembered more and she paled, “One of them claimed you DID eat them, but- then how,”

It was Yonah’s turn to snort. “Adventurers? They were thieves. Idiots. Tasty though,” he licked his lips and Sophia backed away. Not that there was anywhere to run to, being on his desk.

“I let them go! They’re mostly desperate fools forced by their wicked mothers to risk their lives stealing from a giant. I said I’m not Evil. I even try to give them money before they run. They don’t always take it. Well, sometimes they run before I can give them any.”

That sounded suspect to Sophia, she would believe it when she saw him do it. (And she would, eventually). For now, he was an Evil Wizard. That was his official title. And looking back at the past few hours, he hadn’t seemed particularly good. And she was his captive. All her life she had been avoiding a classic fairytale scenario but she’d ended up in one anyways. Even if it was highly unusual. This was going to be fun, if she played the game right.

“Hey,” she said, after Yonah had gone back to his notes. He sighed and looked at her, “Are you going to eat me? And if you do will you let me go or just kill me? Is that my father’s plan? Have you wipe me off the face of this fucking planet?”

Just with her question the giant’s stomach growled. He retrieved three apples from his hat, now minuscule in his giant hand, and tossed them in his mouth like little candies. “I’m still deciding.”

Sophia really couldn’t tell if he was serious. Evil or not, he was a jerk. But it didn’t matter, because she had remembered one final thing.

Possibly the most important thing. 

She looked down at the book Yonah was reading. It showed diagrams and symbols and letters in other languages, and words she couldn’t begin to comprehend.In fact it hurt her brain to look at them. They were magical. He was magical. He was a academy trained wizard.

“So,”

She picked up the book, and looked at it as if she could actually understand the words. Her brain begged her to look away from the migraine-inducing patterns and script, but she wanted the dramatic effect.

“When do lessons begin?”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading please comment!


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